It was only yesterday we reported that Beyonce will be releasing a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” for Baz Luhrmann’s in-your-face adaptation of The Great Gatsby .
Now you can hear a bit of Beyonce crooning to Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” in the new trailer released today. It was believed that Beyonce would be creating her own cover of “Back to Black”, and from what we can tell it does sound a little different, but that isn’t entirely bad.
Beyonce whose signature vocalization is laced in rich r&b, including soaring notes, and boombastic runs, has toned it down for the cover. From what we can hear Beyonce’s “Black to Back” isn’t the singer’s effort to put her signature touch on the cover. Instead she keeps it light, and almost sounds timid on the track. It’s a drastic change for both the cover and Beyonce, and we can only hope this is a good sign for the rest of the song when it’s released.
Also featured in the trailer is a track by Lana Del Rey, who has proven to be an acquired taste by music listeners. While other trailers for The Great Gatsby have heavily featured and built around the beat of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church In The Wild,” this trailer seems to put the music in the backseat for a more focused plot-driven trailer, which more than puts Baz Luhrmann’s odd and daring sense of aesthetic to the forefront.
The Gatsby trailer shows us footage that has never been released until now. While the character of Tim Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) barely made a cameo in the prior trailers, in this one his storyline is fleshed out, as is the background on the dangerous romance of Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). The trailer swiftly moves from the heated conflicts between Gatsby and Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), which look just as intense as the bright colors that seem to burn across the screen.
Surprisingly enough there’s a few pivotal moments featured in the trailer, but we won’t spoil it for you in case you haven’t read the book. Either way, this film looks like the most intense if not intriguing work from Baz yet, as the new peak suggests he’s trying to fit a bit more into that Blockbuster avenue. While it might seem like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, we have faith that Baz may just get it right with this one.
The Great Gatsby makes its premiere at the Cannes film festival and will arrive in theaters on May 10.
Listen to Beyonce’s “Back to Black” here: